Communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday rejected billionaire Elon Musk’s claim that his satellite internet service, Starlink, was being blocked by “certain oligarchs”, asserting that India does not allow a monopoly in any sector and questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s response to a post by Musk.
For the third day in a row, Musk took to X late Friday with another sarcastic post over a pending security clearance for Starlink to start operations in India. His posts have targeted billionaire Mukesh Ambani, whose Reliance Jio is also aiming to provide satellite internet services in India.
‘No monopolies in India’
Earlier, Scindia told reporters at the India Mobile Congress that he wanted to set the record straight.
“Now let me be very clear, India does not allow monopoly in any sector… even as satcom is concerned, there is not a single licensee that has been chosen. Licences have been given to everyone who wants to provide these licences,” he said.
Scindia said that while there is a lot of conversation about one particular company, three have got satcom licences.
{{/usCountry}}Scindia said that while there is a lot of conversation about one particular company, three have got satcom licences.
{{/usCountry}}Musk’s Starlink, Reliance Jio’s satellite venture Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb have already secured licences, while Amazon’s Kuiper has expressed interest and is undergoing the process of acquiring a licence to offer satcom services in India. On what remains before any of the three companies can begin services in India, Scindia said the revenue-based charges are almost finalised and each company must meet the security requirements. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the DoT have been in talks on the pricing and are “close to taking the final decision”.
The minister brushed aside the Congress’s criticism. “I don’t think they themselves know whether they are going left or right,” he said in response to a question on a post by Rahul Gandhi.
Scindia said the Congress first objected to a certain person getting a licence and now objects to why its new ally is not getting one. “They don’t have clarity in terms of where they are going. But that is the case with Congress, which is to be expected,” the minister said.
War of words
Scindia’s remarks come amid a back-and-forth between Elon Musk and the Indian government. On Wednesday, Musk claimed that Starlink was being “blocked by certain oligarchs” who were keeping a “monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people”.
The communications ministry rejected the charge and said suggestions that Starlink was being discriminated against were “baseless and misconceived” and that India’s framework for satcom services was fair and non-discriminatory. The statement stressed that the security assessment of the three entities was under way and that they were at “broadly the same regulatory stage”.
Hours later, Musk escalated his attack, saying Starlink was licenced to operate in more than 165 countries and had spent five years complying with Indian rules. “So why still no licence? Is Ambani the real boss of India?” he asked, referring to Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani.
This is when Rahul Gandhi waded in. “Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy,” the Congress leader said.
On Friday , Musk posted: “Dear Prime Minister Ambani, Please accept my humble apologies for not realizing that you are the real boss of India. Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete? “
Musk said that Starlink could deliver Internet access in parts of India that lack it, while improving opportunities for children and small business owners in education and trade, respectively.